1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to the merchandising of death care products and death care related products, such as caskets, coffins, vaults, bronzes and other metallic adornments, personalized exteriors and interiors of caskets and coffins, urns, keepsakes and various printed materials, including, but not limited to, cards, such as sympathy cards, stationery, and other printed literature, including pamphlets, books, whether recorded on paper or in other formats, e.g., videotape or film, CD, DVD or other electronic media, etc. The invention also provides a method, apparatus and display fixtures to inform and educate patrons who are making arrangements in advance of actual need, as well as families and relatives of those who may be making arrangements for a recently deceased family member.
2. Background of the Invention
The conventional display of death care merchandise, such as coffins and caskets, historically has been to invite the customer into a room in which various full size caskets are gathered. The gathered caskets generally do not have any rationale to the arrangement of the caskets nor are they even oriented in a meaningful matter. Generally, both horizontal and vertically arranged caskets are gathered in a room or warehouse adjacent the funeral home. However, the space available at funeral homes or the need to visit a warehouse remote from the funeral home has meant that the selection of death care merchandise which is necessarily limited by the physical size of the available rooms or warehouse. On the other hand, another approach to merchandising coffins or caskets has been to provide an album or collection of photographic or pictorial representations of coffins and caskets, coupled with a limited number of samples on the premises of the funeral home. Neither of these prior art arrangements have been satisfactory for providing the quality and quantity of information necessary for the prospective purchaser of death care items, such as caskets and coffins, to make informed decisions.
In addition, the prior art manner of merchandising death care products, such as coffins and caskets, did not lead one to effectively merchandise related death care products, such as vaults, urns, bronzes and other metallic plaques, ornamentation, etc., paper products, such as sympathy cards, stationery, books and other printed literature, keepsakes, nor to provide a way to personalize the funeral service.
Thus, there remains a need for improving the merchandising of death care merchandise, such as coffins and caskets, as well as presenting those patrons with either immediate need or pre-need, information, education, and choices in purchasing death care products.
The present invention satisfies these and other needs, which can be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings and the following description.